On Friday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined a request from the House Judiciary Committee to testify before House lawmakers next week, regarding his prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
House Republicans have been working to bring Bragg into Congress on June 13, to answer questions regarding his prosecution of the former president, after he was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records. The charges were brought by Bragg, and have frequently been criticized as being politically motivated.
On Saturday, Bragg’s general counsel, Leslie Dubeck, sent a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), telling him that Bragg has “scheduling conflicts” and stating that he will not be appearing before Congress on the 13th.
Dubeck’s letter added that Bragg might be willing to appear before Congress at a later date.
“This Office is committed to voluntary cooperation,” Dubeck wrote in the letter, first reported by Politico. “That cooperation includes making the District Attorney available to provide testimony on behalf of the Office at an agreed-upon date, and evaluating the propriety of allowing an Assistant District Attorney to testify publicly about an active prosecution to which he is assigned. However, the proposed date that the Subcommittee selected without consulting the Office presents various scheduling conflicts.”
Dubeck added that Trump’s upcoming sentencing on July 11 might prevent Bragg from testifying, and criticized the Judiciary Committee’s request for Bragg to testify, stating that Jordan “has not made clear the scope of the proposed testimony.”
“The trial court and reviewing appellate courts have issued numerous orders for the purpose of protecting the fair administration of justice in People v. Trump, and to participate in a public hearing at this time would be potentially detrimental to those efforts,” Dubeck wrote.
Politico reported that Jordan had previously said he would be willing to subpoena Bragg if he refused to testify, and questioned why Bragg would need to wait until after Trump’s sentencing to do so.
Jordan told Fox News earlier this week that he is working to propose an appropriations package that would “defund the lawfare activities” of state and federal prosecutors who are behind “politically sensitive investigations,” specifically noting Bragg, Special Counsel Jack Smith, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
“We have seen rogue prosecutors abuse the rules of professional conduct and their duty to do justice in service of politicized ends,” he said, recommending that the fiscal year 2025 appropriations package include an option “to eliminate federal funding for state prosecutors or state attorneys general involved in lawfare and to zero out federal funding for federal prosecutors engaged in such abuse.”
“Everything is on the table as to what is next,” said Stefanie Farrell, a spokesperson for Chairman Jordan.
Bragg has repeatedly been accused of unfairly going after the former president and launching trumped-up investigations into him due to his Democratic allegiance. The Manhattan DA ran for office on “getting Trump,” repeatedly bragging on the campaign trail about his previous prosecutions of the former President and his family.
“It is a fact that I have sued Trump more than a hundred times,” Bragg reportedly said on the campaign trail. “I can’t change that fact, nor would I. That was important work. That’s separate from anything that the DA’s office may be looking at now.”
“Never forget these key facts,” Jordan said in an interview with Fox News. “Alvin Bragg campaigned on how he’s going to ‘get Trump.’ Once he gets in and sees how ridiculous this case is, he says he cannot envision a world where he would indict President Trump and call Michael Cohen as a prosecution witness, but he does just that after – this is key – after President Trump announces he’s running for president.”
